The Sad Case of Heath Ledger and the Other Actors Who Died While Filming

Heath Ledger

The world watched in disbelief when in January of this year, we were greeted with the news of Heath Ledger’s passing at only 28 years of age. An untimely and totally devastating death which came before the new Batman movie “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” was screened. As we will see, there were several other big actors who met this same unfortunate fate. However, this article is in no way intended to list them all (or it would have to be an extremely long list). These are in no particular order.

Brandon Lee

Brandon Lee was killed on set by an accidental gun shot wound, while filming “The Crow” in 1993. He was 28 years old. Filming was nearing completion at the time of his death, but a stunt double was used for the rest of the filming, with Brandon Lee’s face superimposed digitally unto his body.

Bruce Lee

Bruce Lee (Brandon Lee’s father) died during filming “Game of Death” in 1973 when he was 32. He had left half way through the movie to film “Enter the Dragon” for a big film studio. While this second movie was being edited, and before he could return to “Game of Death, he died mysteriously. The movie was then completed with body doubles and cardboard cut-outs of Bruce Lee

John Candy

John Candy died while filming “Wagons East’ in 1994 when he was 43 years old. He died of a heart attack which occurred while he was asleep. A body double had to be used to replace him

Aaliyah

Aaliyah Haughton died in a plane crash 2001, aged 22. She was also an R&B singer, and was filming “Queen of the Damned” when she died. She had completed filming all of her scenes, but some of the audio was yet to be finished at the time of the accident. Her brother Rashad later overdubbed her voice.

River Phoenix

River Phoenix died of a drug overdose while filming “Dark Blood” in 1993. He was 23 years old. The film had to be scrapped because they could not possibly go on filming without him since quite a few of the major scenes hadn’t yet been filmed.

Oliver Reed

Oliver Reed died in 1999 at 61 years old. He was filming “Gladiator” at the time. He died in a bar, collapsing from a heart attack, after racking up an $866.00 alcohol bill. His face had to be digitally recreated for the rest of the film, an undertaking which cost up to $3 million.

Clark Gable

59-year-old Clark Gable died after a fourth heart attack in 1960 while filming “The Misfits.” A body double was used to complete the film. He smoked three packs of cigarettes a day and had once been quite a heavy drinker, this was said to be the cause of his sudden demise.

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe died when she was 36 years old, in 1962. She was working on “Something”s Got To Give,’ at the time, and when she was fired half way through, Dean Martin (her leading man) refused to work without her. She was then called back to continue filming. However, before she could re-start she was found dead after a drug overdose. The film was later shelved.

Natalie Wood

Natalie Wood died while filming “Brainstorm”. She had taken some time off filming for Thanksgiving in 1981 and was reportedly drunk when she fell into the water from a yacht. She was 43 years old. The film was eventually finished using body doubles.

Donald Pleasence

Donald Pleasence was filming “Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers” when he died in 1995 from complications following a heart valve replacement surgery. He was 75 years old. The film was later re-edited so that his character dies in the end.

Gloria Foster

Gloria Foster (The Oracle) died just before completing “The Matrix Reloaded” one of the top grossing films ever. She was 67 in 2001 when she died of diabetes. Her character in part 3 was later played by Mary Alice.

All of these actors/actresses possessed admirable qualities and acting skills (in spite of drug or alcohol abuse in some cases). They have been, and always will be sadly missed, not just by their fans, but by the cinema viewing public as a whole. Many of these films mentioned here went on to win various awards, this is evidently a true validation of the actors/actresses’ work and contribution to the field of entertainment.